Month: December 2005

So you’ve been scratching your balls head, wondering what the next big thing on RcktMan’s Launching Pad was going to be, and just how wonderful and/or exciting it could possibly end up being. Well, wonder no more.

Let’s face it, folks, flesh brings the masses out of the woodwork. And lord knows there is a lot of flesh out there for everyone to enjoy. But after seeing the uber-popular response to the pictures of Paul Walker and other hunks on this site, I figured I’d save myself the trouble of coming up with something intellectual and intelligent on Fridays and share some Friday Flesh with you each week.

So… introducing the first installment of Friday Flesh: Former Survivor contestant Jeff Wilson.

Let’s face it, folks, Jeff is one hot stud. I’ve seen some hot boys in my lifetime (both in real life and in ‘virtual’ reality) but this man is, in one word, stunning.

As to his personality… who cares? Just enjoy the picture for criminy sakes. 🙂

Now I should add that I do not, have not ever, and probably will not ever watch Survivor. (Can you believe there have been TEN different “seasons” of this show already!?!) I’ve seen, at most, part of one episode, and while I can see what gets people all worked up, I just wasn’t all that interested in the show. About the only reason I’d want to watch is for all the half-naked men running around; and quite frankly, sometimes they’re not all that hot to begin with. Jeff is another story. I actually didn’t find him on Survivor at all– I found him on this website (thanks to them for the photos, btw). You can also search Google for a gazillion different Jeff Wilson-related links, if you are so inclined.

So ends the first installment of Friday Flesh. What better way to start your weekend? (Yeah OK it’s not Friday, but I was a little busy today and forgot to post this, but I wanted to make sure it got up there. Sue me. 🙂 )

Have a wonderful New Year, everyone. Stay safe, stay sober (ha!) and stay alive. But have fun doing it. That’s the ticket to a good 2006. See you next year!

Just a brief note to let all 10 of my readers know of a few tweaks to RcktMan’s Launching Pad that have taken place in recent months and days…

1. Unmoderated Comments As of today, comments on RcktMan’s Launching Pad are finally UNMODERATED! Which means once you hit the “send” button, your comment should appear IMMEDIATELY. 🙂

I had them moderated because I was getting absolutely BLASTED with spam. Like more than 70 spam comments A DAY. A big warm gooey THANK YOU to Scott-O-Rama for helping me out and installing a great plugin to help combat this nasty monster. (The plugin, should you be interested, is called Spam Karma and is available by clicking on the words Spam Karma as they appear in this sentence.)

So if you were inhibited from commenting because of the moderation, worry no more. 🙂 Thanks for your patience.

2. Launching Pad Supporters You may have seen the little ad for the Launching Pad along the sidebar for some time now, and before that seen some ads for other blogs. If you have any interest in BlogAds, I invite you to check it out, and place one with RcktMan’s Launching Pad. It could generate both of us a little revenue as well as build interest in your blog!

3. GravatarsScott-O-Rama also helped me to finally get the Gravatars plugin working on comments– so if you have a Gravatar, you will see your smiling (or pouting in my case) face alongside your comment.

4. “More” after this In yesterday’s post you may have noticed a “More” button at the end of the second paragraph. If you didn’t click that little button, you probably missed something. 🙂 Occasionally I will now be posting split-style– mainly to conserve space on longer posts and keep more posts on the main page.

The best part about Christmas being over is that New Year’s Eve and Day are soon to pass as well. The sad part about all that is, once they’re gone, life goes back to normal, and the winter blahs set in.

All that griping, groaning and whining… and in the blink of an eye it’s all over.

In the end, though, this Christmas wasn’t so bad after all. The only downer was that my sister and her husband weren’t there, but she did call on Christmas morning, so it was nice to hear from her anyway.

And spending time with family and friends are really what make the season so wonderful after all. As I get older, I find myself seeing them less and less throughout the year. It’s sad, but that’s how things go sometimes. I think the last time I saw my Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, her baby and family was in June for the baby’s first birthday. I couldn’t believe how much time had obviously passed since then! The kid is already walking and starting to talk! Where did the time go???

The baby was, of course, the hit of the party. Not only is she drop-dead adorable, she also has such a personality. At one point early in the evening, we were all gathered around my Aunt’s basement TV watching a holiday special. One segment featured a marching band and she immediately started jumping up and down and clapping her hands to the music. Suddenly, she turned around and looked straight at me. I was fixated on her watching the show and having so much fun. She ran over, grabbed my hands and motioned them to start clapping, as if to indicate that “You have to clap too!” I couldn’t believe how this tiny little thing, only 1 1/2 years old, was able to take charge of that situation and make me absolutely melt. After a few seconds to make sure I was clapping along, she ran back to the TV, only to turn around again after a while to admonish me a second, then a third and a fourth time. By the fifth time, I was in hysterics.

This tiny little girl completely made me forget my Scrooge-like attitude about Christmas. She had so much life and energy and joy about the whole holiday, that I realized that I had forgotten what it was like to be a kid at Christmastime. I forgot the joy of anticipation, the mystery of Santa Claus, and the thrill of wonderful gifts to play with and enjoy. I forgot about the stories, the goodies, the hugs from grown-ups, and the warmth of family.

It’s times and situations like this where I mourn the possibility that I may never have children of my own. To see this one slice of life through a child’s eyes is so fascinating to me, and so moving– I can only imagine what it must be like to see all of life through a child’s eyes, as he or she starts as a tiny infant and grows into an adult. I see my parents and how they look at my sister and I, and although it makes me sad because we are all getting older, and that’s never fun– the love they have for us, and the warmth in every wish they have for us make me long to experience that part of life as well.

Maybe I will get to experience it someday. Maybe I will meet the right person to spend the rest of my life with, and we will go down that road together. But right now it seems a distant possibility. In the meantime, I have my family and their families to experience those joys with, however often those experiences may be.

That is something to be thankful for, and to celebrate throughout the year.

So I hope you and your families and friends had a wonderful holiday, whichever holiday you celebrated. I hope you experienced the love and the wonderful joy of family and friendship wherever you were, and are able to experience many more times in the future.

I never… EVER… thought I’d be nominated for one of those “Best Blog” awards, but I have, folks. Granted, every gay blogger in cyberspace has been nominated as well, but at the very least I can direct you to this link and ask you to vote for me under #3: Best Gay Blog. (Note that they listed me as RcktRamblings, the old title of my blog, but the link is correct.)